ABSTRACT
The photocopy depicts one moment of what the British authorities described at the time as a "punitive" raid on Roviana Lagoon in the western Solomons, carried out by sailors and marines from HMS Royalist in 1891. The incident involving HMS Royalist was regarded by the British as a punitive action, carried out in retaliation for two attacks on Edmund Pratt's trading station at Hombuhombu, a small island in Roviana Lagoon. Faletau's executive-style briefcase is slowly falling apart. The black fake leather surface is scuffed and peeling; the chrome plating on the handle has chipped off and the corroded metal underneath leaves rust stains on your hands when you hold it. Shuffling through these objects, Faletau produces a crumpled and worn photocopy. It shows ranks of white-uniformed soldiers standing in front of a large western Solomon Islands canoe-house.
